REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian government has sent US$2 million in humanitarian assistance to Vanuatu to help in recovery efforts following the devastation wrought by Tropical Cyclone Pam, which struck the country in mid-March.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, was present at the official ceremony marking the aid package's send-off at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Saturday.

Minister Marsudi said the assistance was commensurate with the follow up received from her Vanuatu counterpart for aid needed by the victims, including food, women and children's packages, medicines, family tents for emergency, blankets, electricity generators, folding beds and sanitary packages.

Besides the goods, Indonesia has also sent a team of 19 members from various institutions to assist in the assessment for recovery and in reconstruction efforts in Vanuatu.

The aid package, which is being sent on a cargo aircraft Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A-330, will be handed by the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia and Vanuatu Najib Riphat Kesoema to Vanuatu's Minister of Climate Change James Bule, and will then be distributed to the victims.

Through the humanitarian assistance, Indonesia intends to strengthen solidarity and the relationship between two countries, which have similar roots in the Melanesian culture.

The Indonesian government also aims to enhance bilateral cooperation with Vanuatu's government related to disaster mitigation.

The Minister said Indonesia had some experience with regards to disaster mitigation, especially due to the recovery and reconstruction efforts made after 2004's earthquake and tsunami in Aceh, which might also prove useful in assisting Vanuatu.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had reported that 166,000 persons, more than half of Vanuatu's population, have been affected by the Tropical Cyclone Pam, which struck 22 islands.

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